Is this ice dancing crap really a sport?

[IronEagle]

I don't think so. It's fine entertainment but i don't think it's a sport.

I believe golf is more of a sport, but that's another argument.

[Riccardo]

What about curling?

now that's a joke

[Raptor]

But is it a game??

I don't think so. It's fine entertainment but i don't think it's a sport.

I believe golf is more of a sport, but that's another argument.

Olympic sports, Olympic Games terms that get tossed around a lot.

[Susquehanna Birder]

Honestly, my dividing line is that if it needs to be judged, it's not really a sport. The Olympic motto (translated) is faster, higher, stronger...and not "best score from a panel of judges."

[KenfromCanada]

That hits the nail on the head. Judged sports are corrupt and open to personal opinion, personal feelings, and human error. Get rid of all of them.

[Riccardo]

But where do you draw the line?

What about hockey? Still has "judges" in the form of refs that decide whether a goal really counted or if a penalty was committed.

[KenfromCanada]

They have video replay in hockey in the olympics, but yeah the refs can be a factor in games but they are always from neutral countries unlike in judged sports. I am not sure if I have of instances in hockey where refs decided to call penalties against one team in a tournament constantly. In figure skating there have been situations where judges have decided to not allow certain teams or individuals to win, particularly North Americans. As much as I love the sport, boxing has to be the worst. I still remember Roy Jones Jr getting robbed in Seoul.

[Susquehanna Birder]

Yep

Referees enforce the rules, but the score isn't decided by them (unless you are a conspiracy nut).

[headknocker]

Is there anything worse than synchronized swimming and diving? Who comes up with this shit?

And yet the the IOC voted to drop the oldest of all sports, wrestling. Dumbasses. If it wasn't for the big backlash of petitions calling for the sport to be reinstated it would've been gone.

[McCarthy12]

I'd probably call it a sport although it's certainly not my cup of tea. I'm just reluctant to discount the countless hours of training these folks have put in since a very early age. Heck, it is probably more physically demanding than golf.

[Kelly Green]

Well, Oh Fearless Leader, Consider The Following Submission

Anyone who can pull off the lifts they're allowed to do in ice dancing these days as part of a 4-1/2 minute long program, let alone the lifts of pairs skaters (which are harder) and the jumps and combinations of the men and women singles skaters, definitely meets the Miriam Webster On Line Dictionary definition of being an ATHLETE...

"a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."

You don't trust Miriam Webster? How 'bout Dictionary.com...

"a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

But, hey -- if you don't consider yourself to be athletic, if you can do a triple lutz-triple toe-double toe combination successfully without falling on your butt -- heck, do any ONE of them successfully without ignominiously crashing to terra firma, I will agree to consider your contention that ice dancing -- and along with it all figure skating -- is not a sport.

[joe]

miriam webster??

would that be noah's wife?

[IronEagle]

Anyone who can pull off the lifts they're allowed to do in ice dancing these days as part of a 4-1/2 minute long program, let alone the lifts of pairs skaters (which are harder) and the jumps and combinations of the men and women singles skaters, definitely meets the Miriam Webster On Line Dictionary definition of being an ATHLETE...

"a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."

You don't trust Miriam Webster? How 'bout Dictionary.com...

"a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

But, hey -- if you don't consider yourself to be athletic, if you can do a triple lutz-triple toe-double toe combination successfully without falling on your butt -- heck, do any ONE of them successfully without ignominiously crashing to terra firma, I will agree to consider your contention that ice dancing -- and along with it all figure skating -- is not a sport.

This has been yet another illustration of (1/X) x (Y/1) = 1

By your tortured interpretation of those definitions Dancing with the Stars is a sport. So is Tiddlywinks.

Your logic is faulty. Just because someone is athletic does not mean that every task they perform is a sport. Ballerinas are athletes but ballet is not a sport. Cirque du Soleil is not a sport. Feats of stamina David Blaine pulls are not sports.

Once again, you are el-WRONGO! How wrong is KG going on?

[Melchior]

That hits the nail on the head. Judged sports are corrupt and open to personal opinion, personal feelings, and human error. Get rid of all of them.

What about boxing?

[IronEagle]

Well, looky here:

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...spectacle.html